Vulnerability vs the Vice Grip

It is a virtue to be like an empty cup, accepting new experiences and information without bias, without displacing or tainting an existing solution. 

Where is the balance though when the world at large is not out to provide you non-vitriol, non-pollutants? Anger, falsehood, and pessimism drive engagement for one and for many. Attention is as precious as currency. Corruption is free and easy, wholesomeness is demanding and hidden.

If one dives into a globalized world with an empty cup, though virtuously, one can easily damage oneself. 

So then, how to censor the inputs before you're humbled less crushed? What is healthy censorship?

How to know what will hurt before you've had the first-hand experience? Some inputs are zero-sum, their pollutant so strong one exposure can defile. 

How does one acquire the strength to resist the sweet poisons? How do you know anything before you experience everything? 

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Now everyone break into groups and discuss the questions together. Wait, no, not you, it looks like we have an odd number today.

Characteristic vs the Outlier

So much momentum carries the status-quo bubble one resides in. To change is to challenge the powers that carried you this far. 

How can you determine what is an outlying non-repeated characteristic of your circumstance? What is an excusable mistake? When does the scale tip and granting forgiveness becomes a weakness, instead of a strength?

What kind of patterns is the machine between your ears detecting?  Are the patterns a characteristic of the system you occupy healthy? Are there tragedies that permeate? Are there tragedies that repeat? 

Is the machine built up to detect these subtleties at all? 

Tragedy is endemic to the human condition, but are the tragedies  granting insight and inspiration and advising the next tragedy? So the fall may slow. Because it's coming.

Upon reflection, is the pattern of tragedy unmitigated?

How much more can you take? How much more will you take anyways? 

How much imbalance can love buy? 

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For extra credit answer the questions again on a separate sheet of paper from the human species' point of view. 

Show your work. One word answers will be an implicit acceptance of a 🚣 sticker on your report card. On a scale of one to zero, are you happy?